Ultrahaptics has once again wowed guests at CES with its demonstration of the latest mid-air haptics technology.

For those who don’t know, mid-air haptics refers to the process of using ultrasound to create invisible “floating” 3D shapes and textures which people can feel and interact with.

The company uses commercial-grade transducers to create the ultrasonic waves, then applies its own intellectual property which enables the transducers to produce the rapid-fire output needed to generate the floating shapes in both space and time. The technology is hardware and operating system-agnostic.

Ultrahaptics was keen to stress how the technology could benefit several key areas, and we played with a couple of their demo machines on the show floor.

A Touch Screen Replacement?

The first demonstration used mid-haptics to control a menu on a screen. Ultrahaptics hopes this implementation can ultimately replace touchscreens, especially in public areas. Public touchscreens are notorious for being hard to keep fingerprint- and germ-free.

A secondary benefit over traditional touchscreens is feedback. When using touchscreens, it’s hard to know whether your input was correctly entered and understood. With haptic technology, the user can feel a vibration or other sensory alert so they know whether their action was a success or failure.

In-Car Controls

The second demo we played with was a virtual car. The transducers were located in a position equivalent to where you would find the gear stick. They sent their ultrasonic beams upwards, enabling users to control the music volume, fans, temperature, and sat nav using a combination of finger, pinch, and “mic drop” gestures.

Because Ultrahaptics’ technology works so quickly, it can marry the haptic sensations with on-screen images and other displays. In the context of driving a car, it means drivers can see a HUD of their inputs on their windshield. It’s less distracting than having to look down to control knobs, dials, and other typical in-car controls.

Before leaving, we spoke with the company’s Director of Commercialization, Saurabh Gupta. He insisted that mid-air haptics would change the way we interact with all our devices and surrounds. Based on today’s demonstration, we are inclined to believe him.

Dan is a British expat living in Mexico. He is currently a Senior Writer and the Affiliate Optimization Manager for MakeUseOf. At various times, he has been the Social Editor, Creative Editor, and Finance Editor. He is also an Editor for MUO's sister site, Blocks Decoded and a Senior Writer for VPN Proof. Prior to his writing career, he was…